The Scottish Food Journey

A very happy new year to all you lovely people out there! We, at notjustashopper, wish you moments packed with laughter, good health, food and happiness. What better way to start the new year but with a virtual tour of breathtaking Scotland, of course focussing on the food, that you must look out for when you next are in the area.

Scots are a lovely set of people, known the world over for ‘Braveheart’, Neeps and Tatties (to the common man, simply turnips and potatoes!), the gorgeous accents, beautiful landscape, most healthy looking cows and of course, Haggis (can always be found on the menu when for Burns Night celebrations).

Apart from having given the world, beautiful castles, golf, stunning landscapes, amazing history, the Scottish have also given us the television, developed by John Logie Baird in 1925, the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and penicillin, by Alexander Fleming in 1928. Scottish inventor John Adrian Shepherd-Barron, who was born in British India, came up with the genius concept of a self-service machine (now called the ATM) that would dispense money around the clock. The first ever machine was ready in June 1967 (now called the ATM), that would dispense money around the clock. Thank you to the amazing Scots!

Scottish love their food, just like us Indians. In fact, a dear Scottish friend has said to me that her dad would only travel to a place that offers good quality macaroni-cheese and steak & chips on the menu! Just like after a few days of eating pizzas and pastas, we Indians crave home cooked daal-chawal? People and food are pretty much the same everywhere…

I moved to Scotland way back in 1998, and once I got my bearings, I started exploring the very few vegetarian options available and of course, pizza, macaroni and chips were easy to find and available everywhere, literally, everywhere! However, if you are a vegetarian and you fancy getting one of the above, do check to see if they have been cooked in vegetarian oil! This is a ‘little’ detail that the lovely Scottish seem to ignore, when it comes to us vegetarians 🙂

Today, you will find pretty much any cuisine (including the Indian curry) of the world available in Scotland. However, since you are here to ‘see’ and ‘eat’ the real Scottish food, I would suggest that you try these recommendations when you visit next. I must admit that you won’t simply find them in just about any cafe, restaurant or ‘chippie’…you may have to look a wee bit harder…

Deep fried bars – meant to have been created (invented) in Aberdeen, available in most ‘chip’ shops from Edinburgh to Aberdeen viaThe best Scottish dessert – Cranachan – whipped cream, toasted oatmeal, raspberries and of course whisky viaScotch Egg: served with scottish pickle and some cheese, and some pickled onions too viaFull Scottish Breakfast, including the highly adventurous black pudding (not for the faint hearted, I am told!) viaBridie – The Scottish pasty, filled with minced lamb viaHaggis ( in the form of pasties here, being enjoyed on Burns Nightvia

Haggis, is clearly the most famous Scottish dish and is normally made with the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach!. There are many stories about the first creation of this dish but what is known for a fact is that a similar dish was mentioned in Greece 2,500 years ago too. There is no Burns night celebration complete without this dish! and no trip to Scotland is complete, until such time that you have tasted their very own drink – the yummy Irn Bru and snacked on the very popular Tannock’s caramel wafer 🙂 Don’t forget to carry a box of shortbread back with you either. They are delicious with a cuppa and if you have a real sweet tooth, then do indulge in a Tablet (extremely sweet, I mean extremely, is fudge like and melts in your mouth). If these sweet things aren’t for you, then buy yourself a pack of the famous oatcakes and enjoy them with some fresh cheese.

Some restaurants that have built a name for themselves for serving good quality Scottish food are mentioned here, in case you fancy dropping by:

The Kitchin, Edinburgh

The Lime Tree, Fort William

Seafood Restaurant, St. Andrew’s

The Witchery, Edinburgh

Ondine, Edinburgh

Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Perthshire

Crabshakk, Glasgow

The Peat Inn, St. Andrew’s

Inverlochy Castle, Highlands

Boath House, Inverness

Knockinaam Lodge, Galloway

Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow

Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye

The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye

On the other hand, if you are on the lookout for a fancy food tour while in Fife, Scotland, then do contact Christopher Trotter. I am told that he will even create bespoke food tours to cater to your tastes! What’s not to like? Scottish food is not all about deep-fried (though yummy!) items, there is a lot more to it…Give the real, Scottish food a try …Of course, there are now vegetarian versions available for all the ‘real’ Scottish delicacies, even a vegetarian version of the haggis, is now made with lentils….works for me, don’t know what the Scottish have to say about that?

I am sure this lovely country, with its amazing beauty, history and food won’t disappoint you…

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Shilpa has experience in E-commerce fraud analysis, technical writing, technical training as well as selling. Effervescent and optimistic are some of the words that best describe her. She now runs her venture NJAS Designs and blogs for notjustashopper.